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GroundTruth Blog

Last week I joined the PAN International family — or ohana, to use the Hawaiian phrase — in Honolulu to share, strategize and inspire one another. In this beautiful setting, people from 14 countries, including activists from the Hawaiian Islands, concluded by agreeing that “the fight to end the overuse of chemical pesticides…begins in Hawai’i and extends around the world.”
The meeting capped the end of an inter-island Food Justice Summit, co-sponsored with Hawai’i Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA). The tour featured four powerful women sharing their stories and struggles in the work for... Read More

Along with partners across the country, PAN is strongly opposing the recent raids and deportations of immigrant families from Central America. As you may have heard, these Department of Homeland Security (DHS) raids are taking place in communities across Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. And they represent the antithesis of the immigration reform we so urgently need.
The raids also directly undermine our collective efforts to build a socially just, healthy and sustainable food system. For decades, our industrialized, pesticide-dependent food system has been propped up by policies ensuring... Read More

In his final State of the Union address, President Obama took the long view, focusing on the future and naming several critical arenas for change. Over dinner afterwards, my family shared what we each liked (or didn’t like) about the address. I certainly agreed with the President’s points about the need to “reduce the influence of money in politics” and ensure that “the system’s not rigged in favor of the wealthiest and biggest corporations.”
But given this, I was all the more disappointed to hear no mention of plans to rein in the power and influence of corporate agribusinesses like... Read More

Sin maíz, no hay pais. Without corn, there is no country. That’s what Adelita San Vicente Tello and small farmers from across Mexico chanted as they stood up to Monsanto’s risky efforts to grow and test genetically engineered (GE) corn seeds. These crops in the field could contaminate and jeopardize traditional varieties, and the source of farmer livelihoods.
Next week, as part of a global Food Justice Summit in Hawai'i, San Vicente Tello — an agronomist and leader of Semillas de Vida (Seeds of Life) — is joining three women from across the globe to share their stories and their life's... Read More

This is the time of year when our thoughts turn toward reflection, gratitude and celebration…and food. As I share meals with loved ones, I'm also celebrating the real progress we made for a safe and equitable food system in 2015.
Sometimes in this work, concrete wins are few and far between. But this year is different. This year, our work contributed to meaningful victories for farmers, farmworkers, children and honey bees — thanks to powerful collaborations, smart campaigns and the tenacity of the PAN community.
Sweet news for bees
So many of us were talking about the link between... Read More

Hats off to climate justice activists around the world. The credit for whatever progress we can point to coming out of the recent climate talks in Paris lies squarely at the feet of this smart, creative and persistent global movement.
Overall, it's clear that the Paris climate agreement is a watershed, shifting international policy in a direction that gives some cause for hope. It's also clear that policymakers didn't go nearly far enough, and that it will take tremendous, sustained public pressure to hold leaders around the world to what they promised. And still more pressure will be needed... Read More

By now you may have heard that in a surprising move last month, EPA effectively pulled Enlist Duo from the market. It had only been a year since EPA approved Dow AgroSciences' controversial new pesticide product, a combination of glyphosate and 2,4-D designed to accompany the agrichemical giant’s latest genetically modified seeds.
Here at PAN we took a moment to celebrate EPA’s sudden reversal. It’s not often that the agency takes such bold action on pesticides. But we also see that this short-term victory is a crystal clear example of our longstanding critiques of EPA’s process for... Read More

By now you’ve probably heard about the international Monsanto Tribunal being planned for next fall. The organizers declared that Monsanto’s activities "contribute to climate and biosphere crises and threaten the safety of the planet.” As we honor International Human Rights Day, I hope the tribunal also focuses on the many ways Monsanto continues to violate the rights of communities around the globe — building on previous work to hold corporations accountable for their actions across borders.
In 2011, PAN International organized a human rights tribunal to draw attention to harms imposed by... Read More